Lincoln

The 14th annual Lincoln Legacy Lectures presented by the University of Illinois Springfield will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2016 in Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library at UIS.

The Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series is a presentation of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the Springfield Campus of the University of Illinois and WUIS Public Radio, calling on scholars and policy experts to talk about issues that engaged Abraham Lincoln and the citizens of his era, and issues that are still timely today.

The subject of this, the 13th Annual Lectures, is “Lincoln and Voting Rights” - with historical background marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

The Sangamon County Historical Society is bringing back the popular cemetery walking tour this fall. “Echoes of Yesteryear: A Walk through Oak Ridge Cemetery” will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, October 11 at Oak Ridge Cemetery, 1441 Monument Avenue in Springfield. (The last tour begins at 3:15 p.m.) The rain date is Sunday, October 18.

“The walk will provide visitors with a glimpse into the history and heritage of Springfield,” said Mary Alice Davis, president of the Sangamon County Historical Society.

It takes a lot to upstage Abraham Lincoln. But if anyone could, it might have been Marilyn Monroe.

The actress visited the small east central Illinois town of Bement, in Piatt County, 60 years ago this week. Bement is known for being the site where Lincoln and Stephen Douglas met to plan their famous debates. But in 1955, it was Marilyn's town.

The fifth Wepner Symposium on the Lincoln Legacy and Contemporary Scholarship at the University of Illinois Springfield will advance the concept of Counter-Emancipation following President Abraham Lincoln’s death, and its connections to racial inequality in the United States today.

Listen to the WUIS broadcast of the 12th Annual Lincoln Legacy Lectures, recorded at UIS Brookens Auditorium in October - a presentation of the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership. Hosted by Barbara Ferrara.

The UIS Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series calls on scholars and policy experts to talk about issues that engaged Abraham Lincoln and the citizens of his era, and issues that are still timely today.

We've all heard how the United States was sent into a period of shock and grief when word of Abraham Lincoln's murder spread. Newspapers reported it that way. But what about the average American, North or South, white or black?

Martha Hodes set out to learn more from their letters and personal notations. The NYU Professor wrote a book on the subject. "Mourning Lincoln" brings their intimate thoughts to light in the months after Lincoln died.

The nation went into mourning when, just after the Civil War had finally ended, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. No one alive today can remember, but a class project may make you get a sense of what it was like, or at least what went on. Students at the University of Illinois Springfield began "live-tweeting" on April 14 - the date that that Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater back in 1865. They've continued, tweeting in real time -- 150 years after the fact -- about the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth, and the funeral cortege from Washington, D.C. to Springfield.

Even if you're not into history and couldn't care less about a funeral recreation, you still might want to know what roads will be closed for the event. But according to Katie Spindell, who heads The Lincoln Funeral Coalition, it's not yet known. She says a list of road closures will go online soon. As for parking for those who do wish to attend, Spindell says, "It will be very difficult.

If you've made your way to the Springfield Art Association over in the Enos Park neighborhood, you certainly noticed the large brick pale-pink home with green shutters. It's well over 150 years old and it's known as Edwards Place. It has just undergone a major restoration. I went for a visit as the process was wrapping up:

The caretakers of Abraham Lincoln's tomb are on the defensive over an unflattering critique in National Geographic magazine and looming state budget cuts that could threaten management and maintenance of the Civil War president's final resting place.

A ceremony in Springfield Wednesday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 16th president's death comes at a time when Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed eliminating the state's Historic Preservation Agency, which manages sites including the tomb. He would fold it into another department.

A South Bend museum is lending a carriage once belonging to President Abraham Lincoln to a museum in Washington, D.C.

The Lincoln carriage is being moved Thursday from the Studebaker National Museum to the National Museum of American History. The South Bend Tribune (http://bit.ly/1Gn7fJ2 ) reports it will be on display at the Smithsonian museum this spring in an exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the president's assassination.

The carriage carried Lincoln and his wife to Ford's Theatre, where he was shot on April 14, 1865.

Combat veterans in California have been working on the hearse that will be used in Abraham Lincoln's funeral re-creation later this spring. It will be at the center of events in Springfield commemorating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's funeral processional and burial. Work on the hearse provided a number of challenges. And in a way, it served as therapy for those working to make sense out of civilian life back home.

Today is the primary election for municipal offices, and we're bringing you a story about a campaign tradition back in Abraham Lincoln's era. Our historical stories are sponsored by the Sangamon County Historical Society and written by Tara McClellan McAndrew, local history columnist for the State Journal-Register. The actors who joined her in this piece were Tom Hutchison and Doug McDonald.

Listen to the WUIS broadcast of the 12th Annual Lincoln Legacy Lectures, recorded at UIS Brookens Auditorium in October - a presentation of the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership. Hosted by Barbara Ferrara.

The UIS Lincoln Legacy Lecture Series calls on scholars and policy experts to talk about issues that engaged Abraham Lincoln and the citizens of his era, and issues that are still timely today.

Today, on Lincoln's birthday, we look back at an important moment in Springfield history.

The date was April 19, 2005. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum opened, six months after the Library began operation. President George W. Bush spoke at the ceremony.

This coming April will mark the 10th anniversary of museum, which has become one of Illinois' top tourist attractions as well as a place for people to learn more about the man whose name is on the building.

In 2015, it will have been 150 years since Abraham Lincoln died. It will also be the tenth anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield opening. These two milestones will be marked by special events, including an exhibit open now through 2016 that displays original speeches and Lincoln's death bed.